Inflatable vest with repositionable collar

ABSTRACT

According to one aspect, embodiments of the disclosure provide for an inflatable vest comprising an inflatable body member having an upper edge area to be located near the neck of the wearer of the vest, a collar member removably attachable to the vest at the upper edge area of the body member by means of a first attachment means, and a second attachment means located at a portion of the body member other than the upper edge area for secure re-location of said removable collar member.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Invention

At least one example in accordance with the present invention relatesgenerally to swimming aids for young children, and particularly swimmingaids in the form of an inflatable vest.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Inflatable vests are popular aids used in familiarizing children withwater and helping them learn to swim. The vests often include back andfront portions that wrap around the upper torso of the child, the frontportion being fastenable together to fit the vest to the child. Aninflatable collar portion may be attached at the upper part of the vestbody, or may be formed as an integral part of the vest, and may curvearound the back of the neck of the child to provide cushioning for theneck and additional buoyancy. A second inflatable collar portion may beaffixed at the top of the vest and may, together with the first collarportion, encircle the neck of the child.

SUMMARY

Aspects in accord with the present invention are directed to aninflatable vest comprising an inflatable body member having an upperedge area to be located near the neck of the wearer of the vest, acollar member removably attachable to the vest at the upper edge area ofthe inflatable body member by means of a first attachment means, and asecond attachment means located at a portion of the body member otherthan the upper edge area for secure re-location of said removable collarmember.

According to one embodiment, the second attachment means is located at aback, lower portion of the body member.

According to another embodiment, the first attachment means comprises amale mating member and a corresponding female mating member. In oneembodiment, the male mating member is located on the collar member, andthe corresponding female mating member is located at the upper edge areaof the body member or vice versa.

According to another embodiment, the second attachment means comprises afirst mating member located at a portion of the body member other thanthe upper edge area and configured to attach to a corresponding secondmating member located on the collar member. In one embodiment, the firstmating member comprises a female mating member and the correspondingsecond mating member comprises a male mating member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In thedrawings, each identical or nearly identical component that isillustrated in various FIGS. is represented by a like numeral. Forpurposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in everydrawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an inflatable vest with a repositionablecollar portion attached to an upper portion of the vest body inaccordance with aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of an inflatable vest with a repositionablecollar portion with one side detached from an upper portion of the vestbody in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of an inflatable vest with a repositionablecollar portion fully detached from an upper portion of the vest body inaccordance with aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a back view of an inflatable vest with a repositionable collarportion attached to a lower back portion of the vest body in a storageconfiguration in accordance with aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a close up view of a repositionable collar portion, showingthe male member of an attachment mechanism by which the collar portionis removably attachable to the vest; and

FIG. 6 is a close up view of an upper portion of the vest body, showingthe female member of an attachment mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For the purposes of illustration only, and not to limit the generality,the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying figures. This disclosure is not limited in itsapplication to the details of construction and the arrangement ofcomponents set forth in the following description or illustrated in thedrawings. The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of beingpracticed or being carried out in various ways. Also the phraseology andterminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should notbe regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” and variations thereof herein, is meant toencompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well asadditional items.

FIG. 1 illustrates an inflatable vest 10 with a repositionable collarportion 25 attached to an upper portion 15 of the vest body 55 inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The vest 10 may havean inflatable body member 55, a first inflatable collar portion 25, anda second inflatable collar portion 30. The body member 55 may have aleft side 45 and a right side 50. The body member 55 may comprise aninflatable member. After the child's head has been placed through theneck opening 35 and his or her arms through the arm openings 40,attachment devices 75 may connect the left side 45 and the right side50, thereby securing the inflatable body member 55 of the vest 10 ontothe child. Inflation stems 60 may be used to inflate various sections ofthe vest 10. The vest 10 may include a first inflatable collar portion25 and a second inflatable collar portion 30. The first and secondcollar portions 25, 30 may be located at an upper portion 15 of the vestbody 55. The first and second collar portions 25, 30 may be located atan upper edge area 80 near the neck opening 35. The first inflatablecollar portion 25 is removable, and may include a mating member 65designed to mate to a corresponding mating member 70 on the vest body 55near the upper edge area 80. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-6 themating member 65 on the detachable collar portion 25 is a male matingmember, while the mating member 70 on the vest body 55 is a femalemating member. However, the orientation of the members could bereversed. The mating members 65 and 70 together form a first attachmentmeans 67 by which the first inflatable collar portion 25 is removablyattached to the upper edge area 80 of the body member 55. Otherattachment means known to a person of ordinary skill in the art could besubstituted for the mating members. These alternatives include, withoutlimitation, snaps, buttons, ties, hook-and-loop fasteners, etc.

FIG. 2 illustrates the inflatable vest 10 with a repositionable collarportion 25 having one side detached from an upper portion 15 of the vestbody 55 in accordance with aspects of the present invention. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 2 the first attachment mechanism 67 comprisesmale members 65 on the removable collar portion 25 and correspondingfemale members 70 located on the upper edge area 80 of the body 55.

FIG. 3 illustrates the inflatable vest 10 with the repositionable collarportion 25 fully detached from the body portion 55 of the vest 10.

FIG. 4 illustrates collar portion 25 removably attached to the back of alower portion 20 of vest 10. Removal of collar portion 25 from the neckarea of the vest will provide additional freedom of movement to thewearer of the vest. Re-attachment of collar portion 25 to the back ofthe body 55, or to some other location on the vest 10, will provide safeand convenient storage of the detached collar portion 25 so that it mayquickly be found and re-attached at the upper edge area 80 of the bodymember 55 when desired. The collar portion 25 is attached to the back ofthe body 55, by a second attachment means 69. The second attachmentmeans comprises mating members 65 on the collar portion 25 andcorresponding mating members on the back lower portion of the vest body55 (not visible in FIG. 6). In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, themating members 65 are male mating members; however, the orientation ofthe mating members could be reversed. Furthermore, other attachmentmeans known to a person of ordinary skill in the art could besubstituted for the mating members. These alternatives include, withoutlimitation, snaps, buttons, ties, hook-and-loop fasteners, etc.

FIGS. 5 and 6 depict the male member 65 and female member 70,respectively, of the attachment mechanism for removably attaching collarportion 25 to the body member 55 in the desired location. While FIGS.1-6 show the male member 65 on the collar portion 25 and the femalemember 70 on the upper edge area 80 of the body member 55, theseplacements could readily be reversed, with the female member beingplaced on the collar portion 25 and the male member being placed on thebody member 55. The members 65 and 70 are made of molded plastic, inknown fashion. Other suitable fasteners known in the art may also beused as the attachment mechanisms.

In an alternative embodiment not shown but operating according tosimilar principles to the above-described embodiments, the second collarportion 30 may also be removable in addition to or alternatively tofront collar portion 25. According to some embodiments, the secondcollar portion 30 may be re-attachable to the body 55 of vest 10 at someportion of the body 55 other than the upper edge area 80 in a mannersimilar to that discussed above with regard to the first collar portion25.

Having thus described at least one embodiment of the present disclosure,various alternations, modifications and improvements will readily occurto those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications andimprovements are intended to be within the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of exampleonly and is not intended to be limiting. The disclosure's limit isdefined only in the following claims and equivalents thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. An inflatable vest comprising: An inflatable bodymember having an upper edge area to be located near the neck of thewearer of the vest; a collar member removably attachable to the vest atthe upper edge area of the inflatable body member by means of a firstattachment means; and a second attachment means located at a portion ofthe inflatable body member other than the upper edge area for securere-location of said removable collar member.
 2. The inflatable vest ofclaim 1, wherein the second attachment means is located at a back, lowerportion of the inflatable body member.
 3. The inflatable vest of claim1, wherein the first attachment means comprises a male mating member anda corresponding female mating member.
 4. The inflatable vest of claim 3,wherein the male mating member is located on the collar member, and thecorresponding female mating member is located at the upper edge area ofthe inflatable body member.
 5. The inflatable vest of claim 1, whereinthe second attachment means comprises a first mating member located at aportion of the inflatable body member other than the upper edge area anda corresponding second mating member located on the collar member. 6.The inflatable vest of claim 5, wherein the first mating membercomprises a female mating member and the corresponding second matingmember comprises a male mating member.